Bill Text: NJ A799 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows gross income tax deduction for amounts paid for removal of lead, asbestos, sodium, chloride, and other contaminants from taxpayer's property.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-11 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Community Development and Affairs Committee [A799 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-A799-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblyman GARY S. SCHAER
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen McKnight, Murphy and Assemblyman Coughlin
SYNOPSIS
Allows gross income tax deduction for amounts paid for removal of lead, asbestos, sodium, chloride, and other contaminants from taxpayer's property.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Act allowing a gross income tax deduction for amounts paid for removal of lead, asbestos, sodium, chloride, and other contaminants from a taxpayer's property, supplementing Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Lead has been proven to be a neurotoxin that affects the brain and has been connected to developmental delays or brain damage in children.
b. Lead abatement is expensive and can be a costly burden on families.
c. Currently there are lead abatement programs provided through the federal government, state government, and local governments for taxpayers with below 80 percent area median income, but the cost of lead abatement can be a burden on taxpayers whose income exceeds 80 percent of area median income.
d. Taxpayers frequently have to obtain a second mortgage or request burdensome loans to address the cost of lead abatement.
e. The State should provide incentives or methods to ease the cost burden of lead abatement for taxpayers.
f. Sodium and chloride from excessive road salting practices have contaminated private well water in certain areas of the State. Homeowners in these areas have been forced to purchase bottled water for their potable water needs. In addition, sodium and chloride contamination of their well water has in some case damaged pipes and appliances in their homes. Sodium and chloride can also each leach lead and other metals from pipes that provide the well water to the homes.
2. a. A taxpayer shall be allowed to deduct from gross income amounts paid in the taxable year for:
(1) lead-based paint hazard abatement in the taxpayer's residential property, if performed by a certified lead abatement contractor;
(2) asbestos hazard abatement in the taxpayer's residential property, if performed by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor;
(3) replacement of a water service line containing lead, provided that the line is owned by the taxpayer, the line is on the real property of the taxpayer's residential property, and the line's replacement is necessary for abatement of the hazard in the taxpayer's residential property;
(4) replacement of plumbing containing lead in the taxpayer's primary residence;
(5) remediation of lead and other contaminants within soil on the taxpayer's residential property; and
(6) replacement of leaded windows on the taxpayer's residential property.
b. A taxpayer whose private well water is contaminated with levels of sodium or chloride that exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency secondary maximum containment levels (smcl) shall be allowed to deduct from gross income in a taxable year:
(1) the cost of installing a water treatment system by a licensed contractor or plumber;
(2) the cost of replacing any pipes connected to the water treatment system; and
(3) the cost of any upgrades needed for the property's septic system or leach field to handle the increased volume of wastewater from the water treatment system.
c. The total deduction allowed for a taxpayer pursuant to this section shall not exceed $45,000 in a taxable year. A taxpayer shall be eligible to claim the deductions set forth in this section regardless of income.
d. To be eligible for the deduction for amounts paid for lead-based paint hazard abatement, a taxpayer shall submit to the director an affidavit from the municipality where the residential property is located acknowledging the work done and amounts paid to a certified lead abatement contractor. To be eligible for the deduction for amounts paid for asbestos hazard abatement, a taxpayer shall submit to the director an affidavit from the municipality where the residential property is located acknowledging the work done and amounts paid to a licensed asbestos abatement contractor.
e. The director shall promulgate standards by which taxpayers shall document proof of eligibility for the deduction.
f. As used in this section:
"Residential property" means a taxpayer's primary residence, owner occupied home, or rental unit.
3. During the first taxable year following enactment, a taxpayer shall be allowed to deduct any expenses incurred between January 1, 2018 and the first taxable year following enactment of this P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) for expenses described in section 2 of this bill, but the amount of the deduction shall not exceed the amount otherwise allowed pursuant to section 2 of this P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire on December 31, 2025.
STATEMENT
This bill would allow taxpayers, regardless of income, to deduct up to a combined $45,000 from gross income in a year for the following expenses:
(1) lead-based paint hazard abatement in the taxpayer's residential property if performed by a certified lead abatement contractor;
(2) asbestos hazard abatement in the taxpayer's residential property if performed by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor;
(3) replacement of a water service line containing hazardous amounts of lead if the line is owned by the taxpayer, the line is on the real property of the taxpayer's residential property, and the line's replacement is necessary for abatement of the hazard in the taxpayer's residential property;
(4) replacement of plumbing containing hazardous amounts of lead in the taxpayer's residential property;
(5) remediation of lead and other contaminants in the soil of a taxpayer's residential property;
(6) replacement of leaded windows on the taxpayer's residential property;
(7) the cost of installing a water treatment by a licensed contractor or plumber if the private well water servicing the taxpayer's property is contaminated with excess sodium or chloride levels;
(8) the cost of replacing any pipes connected to the water treatment system if the private well water servicing the taxpayer's property is contaminated with excess sodium or chloride levels; and
(9) the cost of certain upgrades to a property's septic system of leach field if the private well water servicing the taxpayer's property is contaminated with excess sodium or chloride levels.
As used in the bill, "residential property" means a taxpayer's primary residence, owner-occupied home, or rental unit.
The Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury would be required to set the standards by which taxpayers are to demonstrate that they qualify for the deduction. To be eligible for the deduction for costs related to lead-based paint hazard abatement or asbestos hazard abatement, the taxpayer would be required to submit an affidavit from the municipality in which the residential property is located to the director acknowledging that the work was done and the amount paid by the taxpayer to the licensed contractor.
During the first taxable year following the bill's enactment, a taxpayer would be allowed to deduct any covered expenses incurred between January 1, 2018 and that year. The provisions of the bill would expire on December 31, 2025.
